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Frequently asked questions

Find information – quickly and easily

Is it possible to upgrade my M9 with special features?

Leica M9 owners can now incorporate the product features of the Leica M9-P into their existing M9 camera body, resulting in an alternative, even more discreet and resilient design. Interested M9 o...

Leica M9 owners can now incorporate the product features of the Leica M9-P into their existing M9 camera body, resulting in an alternative, even more discreet and resilient design. Interested M9 owners can choose between two different upgrade options.The ‘Sapphire glass' upgrade package offers the replacement of the M9 monitor cover with the superior-quality sapphire glass cover of the M9-P. The second option, ‘Top deck and sapphire glass', offers the replacement of the monitor glass, the top deck and baseplate by the respective components of the M9-P.

Why should I optimize my lenses for the use with digital Leica M cameras?

Due to the brilliant image performance as well as high resolution of the Leica M sensor even the smallest details are displayed rich in contrast.
When viewing the images on the computer screen at...

Due to the brilliant image performance as well as high resolution of the Leica M sensor even the smallest details are displayed rich in contrast.
When viewing the images on the computer screen at a 100% zoom they can easily be evaluated in a size equivalent to a 1,20m x 1,80m poster print.
In the analog photography this is only possible with an extensive amount of additional work.
That is the reason why the requirements for lenses in digital photography by far exceed those of analog photography.
In many cases this difference only becomes apparent when a lens is used on a digital camera for the first time and variances in the lens calibration become visible.Especially lenses with a long focal length or a wide aperture benefit from a calibration since even slight miss adjustments become apparent due to the low depth of field.

What kind of advantages has a 6-bit coding?

Leica M lenses are characterized by their short focal length, which enables light to hit the sensor in an extreme steep angle. By optimally aligning the micro lenses on the sensor all lenses can b...

Leica M lenses are characterized by their short focal length, which enables light to hit the sensor in an extreme steep angle. By optimally aligning the micro lenses on the sensor all lenses can be used on the Leica M.
Steep angles of incidence, as they occur with wide angle lenses, require additional enhancements during post processing of the images. In order to do so, the camera has to identify which lens is being used.
The 6-bit coding all current lenses are equipped with, enable the digital Leica M camera to recognize the corresponding lens type and therefore improves the image quality.
During communication between camera and lens the image processing optimizes vignetting and saves the available information regarding focal length and maximum aperture in the EXIF data of the image.The Leica Customer Care Leica Camera AG offers a 6-bit coding including calibration for lenses which are no longer current. For further information we kindly ask you to contact the corresponding agency in your country.

CARE AND PROTECTION FOR YOUR CAMERA SENSOR

Even if you take the greatest care when changing lenses, it is not possible to completely prevent small amounts of dust and dirt from entering the camera body and landing on the sensor. Dust gather...

Even if you take the greatest care when changing lenses, it is not possible to completely prevent small amounts of dust and dirt from entering the camera body and landing on the sensor. Dust gathers on body caps and the rear caps of lenses and the finest particles are produced everywhere where moving parts are used – for instance, by friction between the bayonet and the lens mount, or even from the action of the mechanical shutter that controls the exposure. With the aid of a couple of practical tips, the number of particles of dust additionally reaching the sensor can be considerably reduced.

Care and prevention. How to protect your sensor

• Before mounting a lens, carefully clean all parts of the lens that come into contact with the camera.
• Always put the rear lens cap back on the lens after use.
• Clean the body cap before use.
• Always store all caps in a clean and dust-free place when not in use. Tip: Connect the rear lens cap that is currently not in use to the camera body cap.
• When changing lenses, always hold the camera with the bayonet pointing downwards.
• Avoid changing lenses in dusty environments. If this should not be possible, change the lens inside a large and clean plastic bag.
• Always change the lens as quickly as possible.• Make sure that no wind blows into the open camera. Always hold your camera with your back to the wind.

Microfine particles. Minimal effects.

It is almost impossible to completely remove every trace of dirt or dust from a sensor. But at least you can minimise the effects of particles if you observe the following rules:

• Unless absolutely necessary, avoid the use of small apertures. With apertures ranging from f/8 to f/22, for example, particles are rendered sharply by the sensor and become more noticeable in pictures. In contrast, shooting wide open often makes them disappear completely. By the way, as this avoids the diffraction effects associated with small apertures, the results will generally also be better.
• It is better not to stop down any further than f/4, particularly when capturing subjects with homogeneous areas, for example large expanses of sky.• Should spots nevertheless be found on pictures, these can be removed with the spot removal tool in Adobe Lightroom. This can be done on both DNG and JPG files. As spots from dirt on sensors are always at the same location in pictures, this tool can be used for batches of images by selecting 'Copy and paste settings' from the drop-down menu in 'Develop' mode.

Correct cleaning. The dos and don’ts of sensor cleaning

Never try to remove particles from sensors without appropriate aids, for instance by blowing into the camera. All good camera dealers stock a range of different products for sensor cleaning. Please remember that camera sensors are extremely sensitive and very easy to damage. Damage caused by incorrect manual sensor cleaning may well lead to elaborate and very expense repairs.

For this reason in particular, we recommend cleaning methods without brushes and without touching the sensor. For example, loose particles of dust or dirt can be easily removed from the glass cover of the sensor with a (rubber) blower or with clean, or even ionised, pressurised inert gases like nitrogen. If the camera sensor is very dirty and cannot be cleaned without direct contact, we recommend professional sensor cleaning by an authorised Leica Service workshop. You can arrange to have this done by contacting Leica Customer Care.

When DNG’s are downloaded via the USB Interface onto a PC, they are renamed to TIFF files.

This is a software bug in Windows XP. Windows is not able to identify the DNG format. Microsoft
has been informed by Leica about this fact. If DNG files are downloaded via a card reader, the files...

This is a software bug in Windows XP. Windows is not able to identify the DNG format. Microsoft
has been informed by Leica about this fact. If DNG files are downloaded via a card reader, the files
are identified properly. Nevertheless, even the “wrong” Tiff files can be opened normally in Capture
one and Photoshop Programs.This problem

When DNG’s are downloaded together with JPG’s via the USB Interface onto a PC, two TIFF files are copied instead of DNG+JPG.

Please use the Windows Scanner and Camera assistant to transfer the files instead of Windows explorer.

Please use the Windows Scanner and Camera assistant to transfer the files instead of Windows explorer.

I am trying to connect the camera to my Mac computer but the Mac software won’t recognise the camera. Is the camera compatible with Mac?

Many digital cameras appear as a hard drive on the desktop of Mac-OS. The M8 does not appear as a hard drive but as a camera device. For file transfer via USB a program like Image capture (part of...

Many digital cameras appear as a hard drive on the desktop of Mac-OS. The M8 does not appear as a hard drive but as a camera device. For file transfer via USB a program like Image capture (part of Mac-OS) or I-photo is needed.

With some SD cards, the picture numbers are reset even though the menu item “Picture Numbering” is set to “Continuously”. How can this be avoided?

This effect can be avoided by formatting the card in “FAT” standard instead of in “FAT32” standard.
Windows users can proceed as follows:
- Insert the card into a card reader
- Click on the respec...

This effect can be avoided by formatting the card in “FAT” standard instead of in “FAT32” standard.
Windows users can proceed as follows:
- Insert the card into a card reader
- Click on the respective drive in the Windows Explorer
- Click the right mouse button on the respective drive letter to select the item
“Formatting”
- Select “FAT” instead of “FAT32” under “File System”- Click on “Start”

Why is RAW data stored in the 8-bit format?

The LEICA M8 is equipped with a nearly loss-free compression of the image data in the case of files in DNG format. This doubles storage speed while requiring only half of the storage capacity. Duri...

The LEICA M8 is equipped with a nearly loss-free compression of the image data in the case of files in DNG format. This doubles storage speed while requiring only half of the storage capacity. During the prototype phase, tests were performed with a 16 bit version, but they did not reveal any image quality advantages. As a result, Leica opted for the 8 bit technology.

Can I use all SD/SDHC cards available in the market for the M8 and M8.2?

The choice of SD and SDHC cards in the market is already very big and is constantly growing. Therefore, Leica Camera AG is not able to do comprehensive compatibility- and quality testing with all a...

The choice of SD and SDHC cards in the market is already very big and is constantly growing. Therefore, Leica Camera AG is not able to do comprehensive compatibility- and quality testing with all available cards in the market. We recommend “Extreme III” or “Professional” from the leading brands such as “SanDisk” or “Lexar”. Using other card types, will not damage camera or card, but as especially “no name” cards do not respect the full SD or SDHC standards, Leica Camera AG cannot warranty full function with those cards.